


Billy Hargove's Day Off

by smashmouth_hargrove



Category: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy Hargrove as Ferris Bueller, F/M, Heather Holloway as Sloane Peterson, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Its Steve's POV but still not first person!, M/M, Max Mayfield as Jeanie Bueller, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, References to Depression, Slow Burn, Steve Harrington as Cameron Frye, Steve most definitely has anxiety whether he knows it or not lol, implied depression, maybe the slowest burn to have ever been burnt, we'll see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:08:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25859467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smashmouth_hargrove/pseuds/smashmouth_hargrove
Summary: “I’m takin’ the day off, now get dressed and come on over.” Billy made it sound just that easy. He hated it.“Can’t stupid, I’m sick,” Unlike you, he wanted to add, but didn’t have the energy to be a smart ass.“Ugh, that’s all in your head, c’mon over.”“I feel like complete shit, Billy. I can’t go anywhere.” Billy had always been stubborn and now was no exception.“I’m sorry to hear that, now come on over here and pick me up.” With that the line went dead before Steve even got to get another word in. Shit.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Heather Holloway, Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Billy Hargove's Day Off

The second Steve heard the phone ringing he knew just who it was.

Billy Hargrove.

His best friend since elementary school. Of course that would be the only guy to call him when he’s home sick on a lazy Wednesday afternoon. He half thought about not answering, letting the phone ring out and going back to bed, but he knew that if he did that, not a second later another call would be coming after that, then another after that, then another after that. So, truly, he had no choice.

Steve slowly reached a hand out from under his mountain of blankets to put the call through to speaker, the cool air sending a sharp shiver through his body.

“Hello?” his voice was groggy and deep, you could tell just from the single word that he was sick as a dog.

“Stevie,  _ babe _ , what’s happenin’?” In Steve’s opinion Billy sounded as great as ever, not a hint of sore throat or stuffy nose in his voice. Most likely he was perfectly fine,  _ lucky him _ . He, honestly, wasn’t surprised. This was Billy’s  _ ninth _ sick day, most of which he wasn’t  _ actually  _ sick for.

“Very little.”

“How do you feel?” Billy sounded serious and Steve couldn’t understand how _. Hell _ , was that even a question at this point, they had known each other for upwards of seven years and the guy couldn’t tell when he was sick?

“Shredded.” The word sounded harsh, but felt about right.

“’S your mother in her room?”

“She’s in Decatur,  _ unfortunately  _ she’s not staying.” Steve made sure to put emphasis on the  _ unfortunate _ part, “Where are you?” He finally opened his eyes and turned his head to the side, his own curiosity taking over.

“I’m takin’ the day off, now get dressed and come on over.” Billy made it sound  _ just  _ that easy. He  _ hated  _ it.

“Can’t  _ stupid _ , I’m sick,”  _ Unlike you _ , he wanted to add, but didn’t have the energy to be a smart ass.

“ _ Ugh _ , that’s all in your head, c’mon over.”

“I feel like complete  _ shit,  _ Billy. I can’t go anywhere.” Billy had always been stubborn and now was no exception.

“I’m sorry to hear that, now come on over here and pick  _ me  _ up.” With that the line went dead before Steve even got to get another word in. 

He reached over and turned off speaker phone the dull endless ringing of the dead line giving him a headache. But not as big of a headache as Billy was giving him. Wanting him to come over when he was sick, just who the hell did he think he was? The president or some shit?  _ No _ .

Before he knew it the phone was ringing again and he was reaching over to answer it. He really wished he could grow a pair, at least one big enough to stop him from even answering and going back to sleep instead. 

“You’re not dying, you just can’t think of anything good to do.” And maybe Billy was partially right. He  _ couldn’t  _ think of anything better to do then lie in bed throwing himself a pity party. 

The line went dead again and Steve pressed his finger harshly into the button that took it off speaker. 

“When Stevie was in Egypt’s land,” Steve sang roughly to himself, “Let my Stevie gooo.”

\- o -

“I’m serious, man! This is ridiculous making me wait around the house for you!”

Steve was once again on the phone with Billy,  _ no surprise there.  _ He still hadn’t mustered up the strength to actually pick himself up and pick up Billy, just couldn’t make himself do it. The only thing he had done so far was sit up and continue reading the book they were assigned for school, knowing that he would be behind when he got back if he didn’t. It wasn’t much, but it was something. 

“Why can’t you let me rot in peace!” Steve sounded more agitated that he really was, he enjoyed Billy’s company. But not when he was trying to get him to do something he didn’t feel like doing. 

“Steve, this is my  _ ninth _ sick day, if I get caught I won’t graduate. I’m not doing this for me, I’m doing it for you.” Billy sounded sincere, but he wasn’t fooled. He knew all the ways of Billy Hargrove, and being a smooth talker was one of them. He told you whatever  _ you  _ wanted to hear, whether or not it was the truth was a different story. 

“Do you  _ know  _ what my diastolic is?” To be fair he wasn’t totally sure what a normal one  _ was,  _ but he had a damn good feeling that his  _ wasn’t  _ normal. 

“Be a man! Take some pepto bismol, get dressed, and come on over here. I’m tired a’ this stuff,” Billy actually seemed genuine when he said that , his voice became softer the further he got into whatever point he was trying to make. And maybe,  _ just maybe,  _ it got to Steve a little bit. 

“Oh, shut up,” he scolded, though there was no real heat behind it,  _ never was _ . 

“Hol- Hold your water for a second, I got another call.” Then, without another word he was put on hold. Who would even be calling Billy at this time of day knowing he was home sick. Maybe his parents, it seemed likely. 

Steve’s parents and his own parents were two very different breeds of people. Billy’s parents were loving and kind, treated him like royalty it seems like in the eyes of Steve at least. HE was lucky if his parents were even around, much less giving him the time of day. His mother always seemed to be out of town and his dad at work. He had the house to himself most days, his father only coming home pretty much to sleep and sometimes eat dinner, then it was back to the stock market. It seemed like more of a curse than a blessing. 

“Steve, it’s  _ my dad _ .” There wasn’t a hint of worry in Billy’s voice, confidence practically oozing from every pore on his body. Steve would kill for just a little drop. 

“Oh,  _ great _ , keep me out of it.” He didn’t plan on being caught up in this big mess in Billy ended up getting caught, which he inevitably wouldn’t. Son of a bitch never did and it really pissed Steve off sometimes. 

“If you’re not over here in fifteen minutes you can find a new best friend.” At this he just  _ had  _ to laugh. New best friend? Yeah, right. Billy might not be the brightest, but if there was one thing he was it was loyal, like a  _ dog _ . 

“Heh, you've been sayin’ that since the fifth grade.” It used to get him at first, but he had come to learn quickly that there was no truth behind it. Maybe he would hold a grudge for a day or two, but he would come crawling back.

The line went dead again and Steve assumed that he had been hung up on so Billy could finish the call with his dad. 

_ Well, now what? _

Steve had two choices he  _ could  _ stay at home like he was supposed to, reading and resting.  _ Or  _ he could take a shit ton of medicine until he felt somewhat alright and go to pick up Billy. 

It wasn’t a shocker that he chose the latter. 

That’s how he found himself putting on a pair of stiff khakis held up by suspenders, strapped over an old t-shirt he found lying on one of his drawers. He layered it with a hockey jersey his mom had brought him from some random trip she took with her friends. He wasn’t really sure who the last name on the back belonged to, but it was comfortable and in his less than healthy state that’s all he cared about. 

Getting the energy to get up and get dressed was only the first hurdle, then was actually convincing himself to  _ leave  _ the house.

“He’ll keep callin’ me. He’ll keep callin’ me until I come over. He’ll make me feel guilty. Thi- This is ridiculous! I’ll go, I’ll go, I’ll go, I’ll go, I’ll go-  _ shit. _ ” Steve spoke to himself, jamming his keys into the ignition and sitting back into the driver's seat. 

Not only three seconds later was he reaching back to turn the car off,  _ damn it _ . He reached over and slammed his tightly closed fist into the headrest of the passenger's seat a few times until he felt that satisfied, though not getting the  _ actual  _ satisfaction of a punch, having it cushioned by fabric and foam. 

“Goddamn it!” he yelled, angry at himself.  _ Just go Steve, just fucking do it.  _ He shoved the keys back into the ignition, pushing the gas even though he was still in park,  _ hyping himself up _ . He yelled, long and hard into the vast woods around his house only to turn the car back off. 

“Forget it, that’s it,” He hissed, unbuckling and opening the car door, leaving the vehicle. He fought with himself walking back and forth to the car multiple times. He grunted as he had an internal battle- no,  _ war  _ with himself over something as stupid as picking up his friend. 

_ I’m not gonna do it, I’m not gonna go pick up Billy, I’m gonna go back inside, take off these stupid stiff khakis and go back to bed. Yeah, that sounds real nice. But- _

He was back in the car,  _ shocker _ . 

This time he actually put the car in drive, pulling out of his leaf covered excuse for a driveway. He still had many regrets, many,  _ many  _ regrets, but nonetheless he was on the way to Billy’s house, second guessing every choice he had made up to this point. 

The ride to Billy’s was rather uneventful, barely any traffic seeing as most people were at work…  _ or school _ . Following the rules like they should be. The lack of cars driving along with him shouldn’t have made him as nervous as it did. What if a cop randomly decided to pull  _ him  _ over, what if he was asked why he wasn’t in school?

_ ‘Oh, I’m just picking up my friend Billy Hargrove, who’s ditching by the way, to go do god knows what. Normal Wednesday y’know?’ _

Christ, why did he agree to this?

When he pulled into Billy’s driveway he was glad to see that both Mr. and Mrs. Hargrove had already gone to work for the day. He couldn’t even imagine how he would sneak in and out of their house without anyone being alerted. But, without that in the way at least he had one less thing to worry about. Which, in the long scheme of things, wasn’t much. 

“There you are, took ya long enough!” Billy greeted him, probably hearing him pulling up outside. 

Steve pulled the car into park, taking his keys and tucking them unto his back pocket. He unbuckled his seatbelt before stepping out of his car and walking to the Hargrove’s front step.

“Yeah, well,” he started, sliding his hands into his pockets, “Shouldn’t even be here in the first place. You’re lucky I came.”

“As if you  _ wouldn’t  _ have come.” Billy was right, he always ended up giving into whatever new, inevitably stupid scheme he came up with. 

“Shit off,” Steve said, brushing it off, “What’d you even need me for.” Really he should have asked that before he left the house, having no clue what he was getting into. For all he knew Billy could say  _ ‘Lets go free all of the animals from the Chicago Zoo’ _ . He really hoped that he didn’t say that. 

“I need you to do me a little…  _ favor _ ,” Steve looked sceptical.

“And just what is this  _ favor?”  _

“I- Just come with me.” 

“Billy, man, I- Wait!” Before he could finish Billy had disappeared back inside, the door left wide open for Steve to follow. He didn’t want to,  _ god he didn’t want to _ , but he did. 

“You can’t just say you need me to do you a favor and then not tell me what is!” Steve called as he walked inside.

“C’mere and you’re see!” From the sound of it Billy was in the kitchen,, but what could he need  _ there.  _ He walked in to find him dialing the number for something. 

“Okay, here’s what I need you to do,” From Billy’s tone Steve could already tell that he wasn’t going to like this, “I just- I need you to pretend to be Heather’s dad, alright? I swear he’ll believe it, Rooney’ll believe anything, just,  _ please _ .” 

Steve felt his heart pass his heart drop right past his stomach and to his ass. Lie, to the  _ principal? _ Not fucking way, he was kidding, he had to be.

“Billy, you  _ can’t  _ be serious! He’ll know it’s me in an instant and we’ll  _ both  _ be suspended and I can’t handle that! And I- I just-”

“Woah, Steve, calm down,” Billy reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, bringing him back down to earth. He closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath, trying his best to  _ calm down.  _ How the hell was he supposed to calm down? He was calling his principal who, for all he knew, thought he was at home sick. He  _ was  _ sick, just not at home, so it wasn’t a  _ total  _ lie. But how was he supposed to pretend to be Heather’s dad? He’d never even met the guy and now he was pretending to be him.  _ Wasn’t this identity theft? _

“It’s easy, all you gotta do is put on some weird voice and… that’s it!” Yeah, that’s it, until he finds out it’s not  _ actually  _ Heather’s father

“If it’s just that easy why don’t you do it then?” Steve questioned, looking into Billy’s eyes with clear concern, like a cry for help, begging him not to do this. 

“It’s all part of the plan, alright? I mean- you trust me,  _ right?”  _ Billy was really laying on the charm now. Playing the  _ ‘You trust me, right?’  _ card was like the dirtiest move and yet Steve still felt for it. 

“Okay,  _ shit,  _ fine, yeah, I trust you. Just, give me the phone and let's get this thing over with, okay?” Steve reached for the bottom of his jersey, feeling hot from being so worked up, sliding it over his body. He left it on the counter, reminding himself to grab it before they left again. 

“There’s my Steve!” Billy praised, he felt a soft pride bloom in his chest before he was handed the phone and the nerves seeped back into his veins. He slowly put the phone up to his ear, with each ring of the phone his heart beat faster, he felt like he had already run a marathon and he hadn’t even begun talking yet.

He watched as Billy began walking away, heading towards the stairs.

“Hey, Billy! What the hell is Heather being excused for anyways?” He wanted to get all of his facts straight before he began talking to his principal about excusing his ‘ _ daughter’ _ .

“Oh, right! Her grandma died.”

“ _ Excuse me?” _ With that Billy had disappeared and Steve was left dumbfounded on the phone with Ed fucking Rooney. He was left little time to think before the phone was answered and he was greeted. 

“Ed Rooney.” He halfway wished it had gone to voicemail. He cleared his throat before coming up with the most preposterous, ridiculous, yet believable voice he possibly could. He could picture the face he was making and it was in no way shape or form pretty. 

“This is Tom Holloway.” Thank heavens that he remembered Heather mentioning her father's name one time. 

“How are you today, sir?”

“Well, we’ve had a bit of bad luck this morning as you may have heard.”  _ Bad luck?  _ It was a little more than just bad luck, he needed to step up his game.

“ _ Yeah _ , I’ve heard and I’m- um, all broken up about it. Boy, what a blow.”

“Yeah… Yeah, well, uh, It’s been a tough morning and, uh, we’ve got a lot of family business to take care of. So, if you wouldn’t mind excusing Heather, I’d, uh, appreciate it.”

“I- Oh,  _ sure,  _ no, I’d be happy to. Yeah, uh, you just produce a corpse, and, uh, I’ll release Heather. I wanna see this dead grandmother first hand.” 

“Well, uh, Ed, I’m- um, sorry. Did you say you wanted to see  _ a body _ ?” What the hell, was he serious? He wanted to see a body, was he crazy? That sounded like the most demented thing he’d ever heard.

  
  


“Yeah, that’s right. Just, uh, roll ‘er old bones on over here, and I’ll dig up your daughter. You know that’s school policy.”  _ School policy my ass. _

“Oh?”

“Uh, was this your mother?”

“Um, no, my wifes mother.” Steve could hear soft laughing in the background,  _ they were onto him _ . He felt a small panic coming on, they had to have known it was him, that he was lying about Heather's grandmother being dead.  _ Shit shit, shit. _

He took a small pause, hearing Billy’s voice from upstairs speaking to  _ someone _ . It wasn’t until a moment or two later that he heard the panic he was feeling being voiced on the other end of the line.  _ Wait- Billy Hargrove you’re a genius! _

They thought that  _ he  _ was Billy! He was alway one step ahead, Steve had no clue how the guy did it, but he was thankful.

It was now that he tuned back into his call with Ed Rooney, vaguely hearing himself being called dipshit and Mr. Ronney’s butt before the panic started. 

“Mr. Holloway?”

Steve cleared out his throat rather aggressively.  _ He had the upper hand now.  _

“Uhm- no- I- I think I owe you an apology.”  _ Damn straight. _

“Well I should say you do!”

“I, uh, I- I-”

“I think you should be sorry for christ’s sake! A family member dies and you insult me, what the  _ hell  _ is the matter with you anyway!” Steve was deep into it now, taking his roll serious, maybe just a little bit high with power. 

“Well- uh, Well I- I- I- I really don’t know sir, I didn’t think I was talking to you. I thought I was talking to somebody else! I- I would  _ never  _ deliberately insult you like that. I- I- I can’t begin to tell you how embarrassed I am.” He did a little dance, shuffling back and forth as Rooney went on his spiel. 

“Pardon my French, but you’re an  _ asshole!” _ Steve took a small pause, it felt liberating, “ _ Asshole!” _

“Uh, Yuh- You’re absolutely right sir! You’ve hit the nail right on the head.” He had to hold back a chuckle, not even letting it show on his face, but he thought it was entertaining, hearing his own principal agree that he was an asshole. He definitely wouldn’t forget this moment. 

“This isn’t over yet buster, do you read me?”

“Uh, loud and clear Mr. Holloway!” 

“Call me sir,  _ goddamnit!”  _

“Yes, yes, yes sir, yes sir!” He was like putty now, Steve could get him to do  _ anything _ . 

“That’s better. Now you just mind your P’s and Q’s Buster, and remember who you’re dealing with!” 

Steve brought the phone back away from his ear, holding it in the same way to what ever he said could not be heard on the other side. 

“Now,  _ now _ , I’m a little scared, ‘cause what if-  _ what if _ he recognises my voice?” Even with the surge of power running through him he would always have that doubt. That little ‘ _ what if’  _ plaguing his mind, because there was always a chance that he could fuck everything up, that he coudl ruin it all with one word. 

“Impossible, you’re doing great.” Billy’s words of encouragement really calmed Steve's nerves, they always did. Even if it was just a sort of fake charm he used for everyone it made him feel good,  _ special _ .

“Yeah?” he double checked, feeling confident when he got the okay from Billy. 

Steve held up one of his pointer fingers that wasn’t wrapped around the phone in a small shushing motion, signalling for Billy to remain quiet once again. 

“Rooney?” He could hear weird grunting from the other side of the phone.

“Rooney, calm down!” 

“Uh, just a little office difficulty, sir!”

“Rooney! I don’t have all day to bark at you, so I’m gonna make this short and sweet! I want my daughter out front, in front of the school in ten minutes, by herself! I don’t want anybody-” Steve stopped, covering the phone with his hand again when Billy hit him.

“What?” He hissed softly.

“It’s too suspicious, he’ll think something’s up! Cover it!” too suspicious? He didn’t think it was that suspicious for him to ask for Heather to wait outside alone.  _ Well- _

“You!” Steve protested, shoving the phone in Billy’s direction, it was his idea anyways.

“Talk!” 

“You!”

“Talk!”

“C’mon!” Steve pleaded, giving Billy a helpless, pleading smile.

“Talk, no!” He should have known that he would have been immune to that. 

“Rooney! Rgh, Rooney!” 

“Yes, yes?” 

“Listen here, pay attention, I’ve changed my mind! I want you out in front of the school with her, I’d like to have a few words with you, my god!” Steve had to stop himself from yelping when the phone was smacked out of his hand by Billy and onto the floor.

_ Well, if it wasn’t suspicious it sure was now. _

“On second thought, we don’t have time to talk right now! We’ll get together soon and we’ll have lunch!” It was a stupid thing to say, but he didn’t know what else he could say to cover it up. Suddenly he was being slapped in the arm and then kissed right in the ass by Billy. 

“Ow! The hell is wrong with you!” He watched Steve hang the phone back on the receiver, still waiting for his answer. 

“Why’d you kick me?”

“Where’s your brain?”

“Why’d you kick me?”

“Where’s your brain?”

“Why’d you kick me?”

“Where’s your brain?”

“I asked you first.” It  _ was  _ true.

“How can we pick up Heather if Rooney’s there with her?”

Steve let out a little defeated sigh, trying to come up with a logical explanation for the question. 

“I- I said for her to be there alone and you freaked.” He still didn’t get how what he said was wrong. Maybe it was a little suspicious, but with the way Rooney was acting he had a pretty damn good feeling he would have gone along with it and they could have gotten Heather as easy as that. 

“Now I didn’t- I didn’t hit you.” Steve could smell the bullshit from that one a  _ mile  _ away. What the hell did he mean  _ ‘I didn’t hit you’?  _ Did Billy think that he would just forget that part of it?

“I  _ lightly  _ slapped you.” Steve didn’t think it felt very  _ light. _

“ _ You  _ hit me.” 

There was a tense silence between them, so thick you could cut that shit with a knife. Steve ended up being the one to finally break it. 

“Look, don’t ask me to participate in your  _ stupid crap  _ if you don’t like the way I do it!” He finished and watches at Billy mouthed what he said, mocking him like a  _ fucking child _ , what were they, six years old? Because last time he checked they graduated in a few weeks. 

“You make me get out of bed, you make me come over here. You make me make a phoney phone call to Edward Rooney? The man could squash my nuts into oblivion, and- and- and - and- and then-  _ and then _ you  _ deliberately  _ hurt my feelings.” 

“No,  _ no,” _ Steve watched Billy shake his head back and forth as if he were the victim. That guy had some nerve, “I did not deliberately- I  _ didn’t  _ deliberately hurt your feelings.”

“Oh,  _ really?”  _ He figured he was just saying that to make himself the good guy again, one of his many tricks. He was like a shitty magician or somethin’.

“Really. No, no I didn’t.”

Steve stared at Billy for another moment more before he made the move to grab his jersey again. He didn’t even bother to slide it on before he began walking off towards the front door. 

“What’re you doin’?”

“See ya later pal, I’m goin’ home.” 

“No, no, no, no, don’t do that!” At this point Steve had stopped listening to his pleas not really feeling like sticking around anymore. 

“Have a nice life.”

“Aw, Stevie, wait a minute!” Billy called after him, “Steve, come back!”

That nickname, that  _ damn  _ nickname always came back to bite him right in the ass. 

“I didn’t mean to lose my temper!” Steve turned around slightly, Billy taking the move to turn him around the rest of the way. First both hands gripped onto his shoulder, then one slid around his shoulders. It was a smooth, soft motion,  _ comforting _ . He could practically map out Billy’s warm hand through the thin fabric of his t-shirt.

“I’m sorry it was uncalled for.”

“You serious?” He had to check, had to make sure that Billy was genuine this time as he often wasn’t. 

“Yeah.” Steve  _ had  _ to believe him now, couldn’t bring himself  _ not  _ to. 

“Yeah, alright, whatever.” He marvelled in the small smile that Billy gave to him, just a small upturn of his lips that meant the world. 

“Want me to get you anything to drink, maybe some hot coffee would help with your throat?” Steve returned the soft smile now, it really was a sweet gesture. 

“Yeah,  _ yeah,  _ that’d be good.” Though Steve was never the biggest coffee fan he took the offer anyways. Partially because he wanted to make amends and partially because he doubted that Billy had any idea how to make  _ good  _ tea. 

The room was silent as Billy moved to heat up the coffee his parents had had that morning with breakfast. Steve set his jersey back onto the counter, making himself back at home, though it was hard for this place to not feel like home. 

Ever since him and Billy became friends in elementary school his house became like a refuge from his own. Whether he was running from his father or his own loneliness, this house always had the shelter he was looking for. 

Steve was snapped out of his own thoughts by Billy handing him a warm cup of coffee.

“Thanks,” he replied softly, expressing his gratitude. In return he received another one of those soft smiles, the ones that fit his _ friend _ so so well. 

“You did screw up though, right?” Steve  _ almost  _ could not believe what he was hearing. Just when he thought that they had made amends, here was Billy blaming him for the whole thing again. Classic Hargrove, he should’ve known.

“I mean, not that it was completely your fault.” 

“Why?” 

“Well to fix the situation, I’m going to have to ask you for a small favor.”  _ Great. _

\- o -

“The 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California. Less than a hundred were made. My father spent three years restoring this car. It is his love, it is his passion.” Just looking at the car made Steve jealous, not of his dad for owning it, of the car for stealing all the love that was meant to be his. 

“It is  _ his fault  _ he didn’t lock the garage.” Here they go again with the fault thing. 

Steve watched Billy step up to the car, lay his  _ hands  _ on the car. 

“Billy what’re you talking about?” His voice was cautious, unsure. Part of him didn’t even want to know what he was thinking at that moment when he touched his father’s favorite child. 

“Whoo.”  _ oh, no _ .

“Billy, my father loves this care more than _ life itself. _ ”

“A man with his priorities so out of whack doesn’t deserve such a fine automobile.” Maybe Billy was right, maybe a man who could love a car more than his own child didn’t deserve it. But that didn’t change the fact that his father paid an  _ ungodly _ amount for it and would skin him alive if he so much as  _ breathed  _ on it the wrong way. 

“No, _no_. Apparently, you _don’t_ understand. Billy, he never drives it, he just rubs it with a diaper.” It was true, he had, _unfortunately,_ witnessed it first hand. 

“ _ Hey _ , remember how insane he went when I broke my retainer? Huh?” If Billy didn’t remember Steve sure did. He had a bruise on his wrist that lasted for  _ weeks  _ from his father grabbing him too hard _.  _ In his defense he  _ did  _ bruise easily. Not to mention he saved up for  _ months  _ to buy a new one and one of his bottom teeth were still crooked. 

“C’mon, that was a little piece of plastic, this is a  _ Ferrari.” _ He didn’t even want to think of what would happen to him if anything happened to this car. 

“Billy, I’m sorry, but we  _ can’t  _ pick up Heather in your car. Mr. Rooney would never believe that Mr, Holloway drives that piece of shit.” Steve looked away with a small frown.

“‘S not a piece of shit.” He knew that it  _ was  _ a piece of shit, but it drove smooth and it was  _ safe _ . That’s all that mattered to him at the moment. 

“It  _ is  _ a piece of shit. Don’t worry about it, I don’t even have a piece of shit, I have to envy yours.” 

“Oh,  _ thanks _ .” Steve was clearly being sarcastic. 

“Look, I’m sorry, there’s nothing else we can do.”

When Steve watched Billy slide into the driver's seat of that car he swore his soul left his body. He had crossed the line, the car was the line and he had crossed it. 

“He knows the mileage,  _ Billy _ .”

“He doesn’t trust you?” What the hell kind of question was that,  _ of course  _ his dad didn’t trust him, that was half the problem. 

“Never has, never will.”

“Look, this is  _ real  _ simple. Whatever miles we put on, we’ll take off.”  _ YEah, because that sounded plausible.  _

_ “How?” _

“We drive home backwards.” Steve couldn’t hold in his laughter at that one.  _ Drive home backwards _ . What kind of crazy idea was that? How would that even be possible?

“ _ No.” _

When Billy started the car Steve quickly tried to stop him, going into that panic mode from earlier. 

“No! Billy forget it! You’re just gonna have to think of somethin’ else! I’m putting my foot down! How about we rent a nice cadillac? My treat! I’ll call the limo! A nice stretch job with a TV and a bar! How ‘bout that?” Steve was trying anything, literally  _ anything  _ just not the Ferrari. He watched Steve pull back towards the garage, letting out a little sigh of relief because Billy Hargrove actually listened for once. 

“C’mon, live a little!”  _ He was wrong _ . He just stared for a moment,  _ was he actually doing this _ . There was no way this was real, this had to be some sort of dream.  _ Sadly _ , it was a real life nightmare. 

It didn’t take him long to figure out that Billy wasn’t going to back down from this, clearly dead set on the Ferrari. He thought about offering up other cars in the garage, but it was no use, would just waste time. So, he said a little prayer and hopped into the Ferrari. 

  
Boy would that little prayer have to go a  _ long  _ way.


End file.
